Winnowing ontologies based on application use

The requirements of specific applications and services are often over estimated when ontologies are reused or built. This sometimes results in many ontologies being too large for their intended purposes. It is not uncommon that when applications and services are deployed over an ontology, only a few parts of the ontology are queried and used. Identifying which parts of an ontology are being used could be helpful to winnow the ontology, i.e., simplify or shrink the ontology to smaller, more fit for purpose size. Some approaches to handle this problem have already been suggested in the literature. However, none of that work showed how ontology-based applications can be used in the ontology-resizing process, or how they might be affected by it. This paper presents a study on the use of the AKT Reference Ontology by a number of applications and services,and investigates the possibility of relying on this usage information to winnow that ontology

Virtual Machines Embedding for Cloud PON AWGR and Server Based Data Centres

In this study, we investigate the embedding of various cloud applications in PON AWGR and Server Based Data Centres

Semantics, sensors, and the social web: The live social semantics experiments

The Live Social Semantics is an innovative application that encourages and guides social networking between researchers at conferences and similar events. The application integrates data and technologies from the Semantic Web, online social networks, and a face-to-face contact sensing platform. It helps researchers to find like-minded and influential researchers, to identify and meet people in their community of practice, and to capture and later retrace their real-world networking activities at conferences. The application was successfully deployed at two international conferences, attracting more than 300 users in total. This paper describes this application, and discusses and evaluates the results of its two deployment

Social dynamics in conferences: analyses of data from the Live Social Semantics application

Popularity and spread of online social networking in recent years has given a great momentum to the study of dynamics and patterns of social interactions. However, these studies have often been confined to the online world, neglecting its interdependencies with the offline world. This is mainly due to the lack of real data that spans across this divide. The Live Social Semantics application is a novel platform that dissolves this divide, by collecting and integrating data about people from (a) their online social networks and tagging activities from popular social networking sites, (b) their publications and co-authorship networks from semantic repositories, and (c) their real-world face-to-face contacts with other attendees collected via a network of wearable active sensors. This paper investigates the data collected by this application during its deployment at three major conferences, where it was used by more than 400 people. Our analyses show the robustness of the patterns of contacts at various conferences, and the influence of various personal properties (e.g. seniority, conference attendance) on social networking patterns

On the emergent Semantic Web and overlooked issues

The emergent Semantic Web, despite being in its infancy, has already received a lotof attention from academia and industry. This resulted in an abundance of prototype systems and discussion most of which are centred around the underlying infrastructure. However, when we critically review the work done to date we realise that there is little discussion with respect to the vision of the Semantic Web. In particular, there is an observed dearth of discussion on how to deliver knowledge sharing in an environment such as the Semantic Web in effective and efficient manners. There are a lot of overlooked issues, associated with agents and trust to hidden assumptions made with respect to knowledge representation and robust reasoning in a distributed environment. These issues could potentially hinder further development if not considered at the early stages of designing Semantic Web systems. In this perspectives paper, we aim to help engineers and practitioners of the Semantic Web by raising awareness of these issues

N-acetylcysteine compared to metformin, improves the expression profile of growth differentiation factor-9 and receptor tyrosine kinase c-kit in the oocytes of patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome

Background: Paracrine disruption of growth factors in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) results in production of low quality oocyte, especially following ovulation induction. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of metformin (MET), N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and their combination on the hormonal levels and expression profile of GDF-9, BMP-15 and c-kit, as hallmarks of oocyte quality, in PCOS patients. Materials and Methods: This prospective randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial aims to study the effects of MET, NAC and their combination (MET+NAC) on expression of GDF-9, BMP-15 and c-kit mRNA in oocytes [10 at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage, 10 at the MI stage, and 10 at the MII stage from per group] derived following ovulation induction in PCOS. Treatment was carried out for six weeks, starting on the third day of previous cycle until oocyte aspiration. The expression of GDF9, BMP15 and c-kit were determined by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis. Data were analyzed with one-way ANOVA. Results: The follicular fluid (FF) level of c-kit protein significantly decreased in the NAC group compared to the other groups. Significant correlations were observed between the FF soluble c-kit protein with FF volume, androstenedione and estradiol. The GDF-9 expression in unfertilized mature oocytes were significantly higher in the NAC group compared to the other groups (P<0.001). Similar difference was not observed between the MET, NAC+MET and control groups. The c-kit expression in unfertilized mature oocytes were significantly lower in the NAC group compared to the other groups (P<0.001). Similar difference was not observed between the MET, NAC+MET and control groups (Registration number: IRCT201204159476N1). Conclusion: We concluded that NAC can improve the quality of oocytes in PCOS. © 2017, Royan Institute (ACECR). All rights reserved

An evolutionary approach to modelling concrete degradation due to sulphuric acid attack

Concrete corrosion due to sulphuric acid attack is known to be one of the main contributory factors for degradation of concrete sewer pipes. This paper proposes to use a novel data mining technique, namely, evolutionary polynomial regression (EPR), to predict degradation of concrete subject to sulphuric acid attack. A comprehensive dataset from literature is collected to train and develop an EPR model for this purpose. The results show that the EPR model can successfully predict mass loss of concrete specimens exposed to sulphuric acid. Parametric studies show that the proposed model is capable of representing the degree to which individual contributing parameters can affect the degradation of concrete. The developed EPR model is compared with a model based on artificial neural network (ANN) and the advantageous of the EPR approach over ANN is highlighted. In addition, based on the developed EPR model and using an optimisation technique, the optimum concrete mixture to provide maximum resistance against sulphuric acid attack has been identified

Android Users Privacy Awareness Survey

Having a share of over 80% of the smartphone market, Android has become an important mobile operating system that is used by billions of users on daily basis. With the widespread use of smartphones in general, and Android in specific, privacy concerns grow with that expansion in the user base. With the millions of applications being downloaded by users daily, it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between the good and the bad in terms of security and privacy. In this paper, we present the results of a survey conducted among 4027 Android users worldwide. This survey was conducted to measure the awareness of Android users regarding their privacy. The study measures the users' interaction with the permissions required by different applications they install. The results of the survey show apparent weakness in the awareness of Android users regarding the privacy of their data

Applications of Machine Learning in Cryptography: A Survey

Machine learning techniques have had a long list of applications in recent years. However, the use of machine learning in information and network security is not new. Machine learning and cryptography have many things in common. The most apparent is the processing of large amounts of data and large search spaces. In its varying techniques, machine learning has been an interesting field of study with massive potential for application. In the past three decades, machine learning techniques, whether supervised or unsupervised, have been applied in cryptographic algorithms, cryptanalysis, steganography, among other data-security-related applications. This paper presents an updated survey of applications of machine learning techniques in cryptography and cryptanalysis. The paper summarizes the research done in these areas and provides suggestions for future directions in research

Management of asymptomatic inguinal hernias

Hernia surgery remains one of the most common operations carried out by general surgeons worldwide with more than 800,000 repairs performed in the USA alone in 2003. Advancement in surgical technique has meant fewer recurrences are now encountered with figures dropping to less than 2% using the laparoscopic approach. Yet despite the progress achieved in securing the repair, post operative pain remains an issue with many authors reporting figures of 30% in patients following groin hernia repair 1,2, 3% of patients report sever pain that limits their daily activities and renders them off work. Many patients with inguinal hernia have very little in the way of symptoms and even some of them are asymptomatic, having noticed their hernia by accident or by their general practitioner. In order to clarify two issues (the first being the incidence of acute hernia presentation, its management and subsequent outcome, while the second was the management of patients with an asymptomatic inguinal hernia) 4 studies were carried out: The first study was a prospective observational study looking at all patients presenting to our unit with an acute hernia, the aim of the study was to prospectively assess the presentation and management of acute hernias in light of recent changes in hernia management. Data on all patients admitted with an acute hernia between 2001 and 2004 was collected prospectively. During the 3 year study period 91 patients were admitted with an acute hernia. 46 had a previous medical assessment either as an acute admission (12) at a surgical clinic (22) or by a General Practitioner (12). Eighteen had been declared unfit for operation at that assessment, 10 were ASA4, 5 ASA3 and 3 ASA2. Eleven patients were on the waiting list for operation 3 of whom had a previous acute hospital admission. For 30 patients this hospital admission was the first indication that they had a hernia while the remainder refused operation or did not seek medical advice. Five patients died, 2 while being assessed for operation and 3 postoperatively, 3 were ASA4 while 2 were ASA3. The number of patients undergoing operation for an acute hernia amounted to 8.4% (80 of 952) of all hernia operations carried-out during the study period. This study concluded that despite advances in hernia surgery there was still room for improvement, to ensure that all suitable patients presenting with an acute hernia receive an operation during their acute hospital admission. The second study was a prospective study of all patients presenting with subacute bowel obstruction in one teaching hospital between 2003 and 2004. The aim of the study was to identify the most frequent causes of strangulation in patients presenting with small bowel obstruction. During the study one hundred and sixty-one patients with symptoms and signs of small bowel obstruction were admitted. Eighty-nine were confirmed with contrast studies. The male: female ratio was 1:1.6. The aetiology of obstruction was hernia in 29 (18%), adhesions in 97 patients (60.2%), and miscellaneous in 35 (21.8%) Operative procedures were performed on 74 patients (46%), 31 of them (42%) with adhesions, 25 (34%) with hernias and 18 (24%) due to other causes. Strangulated bowel occurred in 15 patients (9.3%); 12 had hernias whilst three had adhesions (P < 0.0001). Of the strangulated hernias, ten were femoral, one was inguinal and one was paraumbilical. Our conclusion was that whilst adhesions are the most common cause of small bowel obstruction, femoral and not inguinal hernias remain the most frequent cause of strangulation. The third and main study was a prospective randomized trial comparing surgery and no intervention for asymptomatic inguinal hernias. The aim of the study was to compare operation with a wait and see policy in patients with an asymptomatic hernia. 160 male patients 55 years or older were randomly assigned to observation or operation. Patients were assessed clinically and sent questionnaires at 6 months and 1 year. The primary endpoint was pain and general health status at 12 months; other outcome measures included costs to the health service and the rate of operation for a new symptom or complication. At 12 months there were no significant differences between the randomised groups of observation or operation, in visual analogue pain scores at rest, 3.7mm versus 5.2mm (P=0.34), or on moving, 7.6mm versus 5.7mm (P=0.39). Also the number of patients who recorded pain on moving 29 versus 24 (P=0.31), and the number taking regular analgesia, 9 versus 17, (P=0.14) was similar. At 6 months there were significant improvements in most of the dimensions of the SF-36 for the operation group, while at 12 months although the trend remained the same the differences were only significant for change in health (P=0.039). The rate of crossover from observation to operation was 23 patients at a median follow-up of 574 days, this was higher than predicted. The observation group also suffered 3 serious hernia related adverse events compared to none in the operation group. Finally a sub study was generated from the non randomised patients within the asymptomatic trial. The aim here was to assess the outcome of patients opting for no surgery in terms of need for surgery and outcome. There were 72 patients (58 opting for observation and 14 wanting an operation), 13 patients (22.4%) in the observation group became symptomatic and required an operation, 9 patients had died at the time of data analysis, all of which were due to co morbid illnesses. The final 2 studies concluded that repair of an asymptomatic inguinal hernia did not affect the rate of long-term chronic pain and might be beneficial to patients in improving overall health and reducing potentially serious morbidity